(NSI News Source Info) KHARTOUM - May 26 2009: Twenty Sudanese soldiers and 43 Darfur rebels have been killed in clashes at a Sudanese army base close to the Chadian border, the army said.
Rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) attacked the base in Umm Baru on Sunday, its second raid on a military camp in just over a week.
File pictures dated October 17, 2007 shows fighters of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) driving their armoured battle wagon at an unknown location on the Sudan-Chad border in northwest Darfur. A Sudanese court sentenced another 11 Darfur rebels to death on April 26, 2009 for an attack on Khartoum last year, raising to 82 the number of Justice and Equality Movement fighters ordered hanged for the raid. Judge Hafez Ahmed found the JEM fighters guilty of terrorism and illegal possession of weapons during the unprecedented attack on the capital's twin city of Omdurman in May 2008.
The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force, Unamid, earlier said the rebels had overrun the army base.
But a spokesman later said the army had control of the town.
"They did make a push for it, but they did not overrun the post. Put it down to the fog of war," Unamid Information Director Kemal Saiki said on Monday, without explaining the conflicting reports.
He said around 350 civilians and 100 unarmed Sudanese soldiers had sought refuge in a nearby Unamid camp during the clashes.
'Martyrs'
An army spokesman said Sudanese forces had "counted 20 martyrs and 31 injured" in Sunday's clashes. He also said 43 Jem rebels were killed and 54 wounded.
Rebel spokesman Suleiman Sandal confirmed the killings, without giving an exact toll: "We have some people who died, I cannot say the opposite," he told AFP news agency.
Last week, Jem seized Sudan's army base at Kornoi, about 50km (30 miles) from Chad's border.
The governments in Khartoum and N'Djamena accuse each other of backing rebel forces inside their respective territories. 
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim speaks at a news conference following peace talks in Doha February 17, 2009. Sudan's government and JEM agreed on Tuesday to meet for peace talks, signing a deal with concessions from both sides, and the Qatari mediator urged all other rebels and Chad to come to the table.
The attack on the base at Umm Baru, some 100km (60 miles) from the frontier with Chad, comes as a fresh round of peace talks between Sudan and Jem is due to begin on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died in a six-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and more than two million more have been displaced.
File pictures dated October 17, 2007 shows fighters of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) driving their armoured battle wagon at an unknown location on the Sudan-Chad border in northwest Darfur. A Sudanese court sentenced another 11 Darfur rebels to death on April 26, 2009 for an attack on Khartoum last year, raising to 82 the number of Justice and Equality Movement fighters ordered hanged for the raid. Judge Hafez Ahmed found the JEM fighters guilty of terrorism and illegal possession of weapons during the unprecedented attack on the capital's twin city of Omdurman in May 2008.
The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force, Unamid, earlier said the rebels had overrun the army base.
But a spokesman later said the army had control of the town.
"They did make a push for it, but they did not overrun the post. Put it down to the fog of war," Unamid Information Director Kemal Saiki said on Monday, without explaining the conflicting reports.
He said around 350 civilians and 100 unarmed Sudanese soldiers had sought refuge in a nearby Unamid camp during the clashes.
'Martyrs'
An army spokesman said Sudanese forces had "counted 20 martyrs and 31 injured" in Sunday's clashes. He also said 43 Jem rebels were killed and 54 wounded.
Rebel spokesman Suleiman Sandal confirmed the killings, without giving an exact toll: "We have some people who died, I cannot say the opposite," he told AFP news agency.
Last week, Jem seized Sudan's army base at Kornoi, about 50km (30 miles) from Chad's border.
The governments in Khartoum and N'Djamena accuse each other of backing rebel forces inside their respective territories. Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim speaks at a news conference following peace talks in Doha February 17, 2009. Sudan's government and JEM agreed on Tuesday to meet for peace talks, signing a deal with concessions from both sides, and the Qatari mediator urged all other rebels and Chad to come to the table.
The attack on the base at Umm Baru, some 100km (60 miles) from the frontier with Chad, comes as a fresh round of peace talks between Sudan and Jem is due to begin on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died in a six-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and more than two million more have been displaced.
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